Stats: Sri Lanka's captaincy woes in recent times
India travelled to Sri Lanka to face the home side led by Dinesh Chandimal in Tests and Upul Tharanga in limited-overs formats.
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The Sri Lankan team’s captaincy troubles continued as Lasith Malinga led the team for the first time in ODIs in the 4th ODI game against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Generally, teams announce the playing XI for their next game but the Sri Lankan team management has been announcing a new captain every game ever since Angelo Mathews stepped down from the post.
Team India travelled to Sri Lanka to face the home side led by Dinesh Chandimal in Tests and Upul Tharanga in limited-overs formats. But a viral fever put Chandimal out of the first Test and Rangana Herath took over the duties. Tharanga led his side in the first two ODI matches before he was banned from the next two for his team maintaining slow over-rate.
Chamara Kapugedera, who took up the role for the first time in the 3rd ODI, picked up an injury leaving it to Malinga to take over charge in the 4th match. Since the start of the Champions Trophy, India and Sri Lanka faced each other in eight Internationals matches while the Lankans have fielded six different captains with two matches to play in the tour.
Sri Lankan captains in their recent Internationals against India:
| Captain | Result | Margin | Toss | Format | Ground | Start Date |
| SL Malinga | lost | 168 runs | lost | ODI | Colombo (RPS) | 31-Aug-2017 |
| CK Kapugedera | lost | 6 wickets (29 balls) | won | ODI | Pallekele | 27-Aug-2017 |
| WU Tharanga | lost | 3 wickets (16 balls) | lost | ODI | Pallekele | 24-Aug-2017 |
| WU Tharanga | lost | 9 wickets (127 balls) | lost | ODI | Dambulla | 20-Aug-2017 |
| LD Chandimal | lost | inns & 171 runs | lost | Test | Pallekele | 12-Aug-2017 |
| LD Chandimal | lost | inns & 53 runs | lost | Test | Colombo (SSC) | 3-Aug-2017 |
| HMRKB Herath | lost | 304 runs | lost | Test | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
| AD Mathews | won | 7 wickets (8 balls) | won | ODI | The Oval | 8-Jun-2017 |
Malinga was the 6th player to lead Sri Lanka in any format in 2017 which equalled the record of most number of captains used by a team across formats in a calendar year. Zimbabwe and England used as many as six captains in 2001 and 2011 respectively.
Most number of captains in International cricket for a team in a calendar year:
| Team | Year | Captains |
| Zimbabwe | 2001 | 6 |
| England | 2011 | 6 |
| Sri Lanka | 2017 | 6 |
| West Indies | 1930 | 5 |
| India | 1959 | 5 |
| Pakistan | 1995 | 5 |
| England | 2001 | 5 |
| West Indies | 2007 | 5 |
| Pakistan | 2009 | 5 |
| Pakistan | 2010 | 5 |
| South Africa | 2014 | 5 |
| Sri Lanka | 2016 | 5 |
Sri Lanka using three captains in this series was only the 5th instance of a team playing with three captains in a bilateral ODI series. The last one was way back in 2001 when Zimbabwe needed the services of three captains in a 5-match series in England.
Three captains for a team in a bilateral ODI series:
| Team | Series | Captain 1 | Captain 2 | Captain 3 | Matches | Year |
| West Indies | Australia in West Indies | Vivian Richards (2) | Clive Lloyd (1) | Michael Holding | 4 | 1984 |
| Pakistan | Texaco Trophy (in England) | Javed Miandad (3) | Saleem Malik (1) | Rameez Raja (1) | 5 | 1992 |
| Australia | Australia in South Africa | Mark Taylor (2) | Ian Healy (4) | Steve Waugh (1) | 7 | 1997 |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe in England | Guy Whittall (1) | Heath Streak (2) | Alistair Campbell (1) | 5 | 2001 |
| Sri Lanka | India in Sri Lanka | Upul Tharanga (2*) | Chamara Kapugedara (1) | Lasith Malinga (1) | 4* | 2017 |
(Stats as on August 31, 2017)
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